Twin Reliance billion-dollar deals beef up numbers

India’s deal street was salvaged by the record strategic investment made in Jio Platforms and Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL). These two arms of Reliance Industries accounted for 25 per cent of the value, a PwC India tabulation has shown.

If it was not for the multiple transactions in these two entities, the numbers for 2020 would have looked tepid. However, experts feel that the trend is likely to continue as consolidation is expected to drive M&A activity in India.

While initially deal activity was affected because of the Covid-19 pandemic, it received a boost after Jio Platforms garnered over $16 billion (Rs 1,18,318 crore) by selling a 25.24 per cent stake and Reliance Retail saw $6.4 billion (Rs 47,265 crore) of investments as it divested around 9 per cent shareholding.